Artist’s rendition of the proposed revitalization of Queens Quay in Toronto – from Waterfront Toronto This past Sunday my family congregated at my place to join me for our annual bike trip & picnic. There were a total of 8 people pedaling, plus my daughter and my dog. We pedaled a total distance of 40 ...

Bicycles in Amsterdam – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country (March 2012) On Monday 47-year-old Toronto resident Joseph “Maverick” Mavec died after his bicycle tire jammed in a streetcar track and he fell on his head. This tragic and unfortunate incident has prompted a discussion about navigating a city full of streetcar tracks ...

Photo of Carla Wintersgill courtesy of Yvonne Bambrick for The Urban Country While pedaling to a client’s office one morning in May I witnessed a driver hurriedly squeeze past a cyclist ahead of me, missing the cyclist by mere centimetres. The woman on the bicycle shook her head but kept riding on. I pulled up ...

Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country Austin, TX – In North America, bicycles are primarily viewed as recreational toys. They are racing machines, exercise devices, mountain climbers, and weekend cruisers. It is uncommon in most North American cities to see a significant amount of people in their regular clothes using a bicycle for ...

Photo of Ian Flett courtesy of Yvonne Bambrick for The Urban Country Half a world away lies a land where troves of business men and ladies gracefully pedal their way to and fro their places of business. In business attire, they dress for the destination, not for the ride. But this isn’t Amsterdam or Copenhagen. ...

Screenshot from an absurd Toronto Sun editorial The title of this post may aptly describe whomever was in charge of the editorial desk for the Toronto Sun newspaper on Tuesday evening. The Toronto Sun posted an “opinion editorial” entitled “Bike helmet law a no-brainer”, which appears to be more of a childish diatribe than anything ...

Bob with his home-made kayak – Photo by James Schwartz / The Urban Country Despite the fact that Canada’s economy is largely built on debt, Canada is still no doubt a rich country. In rich countries where most people don’t need to worry about feeding themselves or putting a roof over their heads, they look ...

Bicycle Art Drawing part two – screenshot from YouTube video by Mike Rubbo Last September we held an exclusive contest here on The Urban Country to win a bicycle art painting by our friend Mike Rubbo. To win the painting, all you had to do was send a photo of yourself on your bike, and ...

“Floating” series – by Zhao Huasen (photos posted with permission) Riding a bicycle after a couple glasses of wine might make you feel as though you are floating. But until now I had never imagined what it might look like to actually float while riding a bicycle. Chinese photographer/artist Zhao Huasen’s “Floating” exhibit shows exactly ...